Hopkins v. White

128 P. 780, 20 Cal. App. 234, 1912 Cal. App. LEXIS 109
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 28, 1912
DocketCiv. No. 1018.
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 128 P. 780 (Hopkins v. White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hopkins v. White, 128 P. 780, 20 Cal. App. 234, 1912 Cal. App. LEXIS 109 (Cal. Ct. App. 1912).

Opinions

This is an action to have a certain assignment of the interest of defendant Harriette Macnider, in her deceased father's estate, declared void. Plaintiff had judgment from which and from the order denying their motion for a new trial, defendants appeal.

It is alleged in the amended complaint that, on August 18, 1908, the defendants executed and delivered to plaintiff their promissory note for $1,679.40 and that, on August 2, 1910, plaintiff obtained a judgment against defendants, in an action upon said promissory note, for the sum of $1,702.40 and that said judgment is now in full force; that, on August 2, 1910, execution issued on said judgment against the property of defendants and was duly served on the land hereinafter referred to and became a lien thereon on August 4, 1910; that on September 12, 1909, defendant Harriette Macnider executed and delivered to defendant White an assignment of all her property, to wit, all of her right, title, and interest in the estate of her father, John C. Haskell, deceased, by which the said Harriette directed that the same be "distributed to and fully and absolutely vested in the said R. J. White, as the same would have been distributed to and invested in me if this assignment had not been made, whether the same be real *Page 236 or personal property or both"; that at the time said assignment was executed the said defendant Harriette had no property other than that mentioned in said assignment and defendant, her said husband, was and is insolvent and that said assignment was made "with intent to delay and defraud the creditors of the said defendant, Harriette Macnider" and "was made without any consideration whatever passing from the defendant, Roland J. White, to the defendant Harriette Macnider" and that the "pretended indebtedness named and set forth in said assignment as due from said defendant, Harriette Macnider, to the said defendant, Roland J. White, was fictitious" and said Harriette was not at said time indebted to said defendant White "in any sum whatever." It is then alleged that subsequent to said assignment the estate of John C. Haskell, deceased, has been fully settled and distributed by the superior court of Los Angeles County and that upon the settlement and distribution of said estate the sum of $711.28 was distributed to defendant White and also "an undivided one-seventh interest of, in and to all that certain real estate described in the petition for distribution and in the decree of distribution in the matter of the estate of John C. Haskell, deceased, as follows, to wit": (then follows a description of the real estate the subject of the decree of distribution). The answer admits the execution of the said promissory note but denies any indebtedness to plaintiff; admits that judgment was had on said note but alleges that "immediately after said judgment was rendered they served notice in due and regular form of their intention to move said court for a new trial in said action and that said motion has not been heard and determined by said court"; admits the execution of said assignment but denies the averments of fraud and want of consideration in its execution and denies the alleged insolvency of defendants Macnider and denies that the indebtedness mentioned in said assignment was fictitious; alleges that said assignment was made for a good and valuable consideration and that all of its terms and conditions have been fully complied with and that said defendant White is the "absolute owner of all of said property without any right or interest therein to defendant Harriette Macnider or defendant W. B. Macnider or either or both of them." *Page 237

The findings of fact follow substantially the averments of the complaint; that said assignment was without any consideration from defendant White to defendant Harriette Macnider; that the pretended indebtedness set forth in said assignment was fictitious and that said defendant Harriette was not indebted to defendant White in any sum whatever; that defendant Harriette, with full knowledge of her insolvency, made said assignment with intent to delay and defraud her creditors and that she has remained and still remains in possession. It is found that defendants, the Macniders, moved for a new trial in the action on said promissory note and that said motion has not been determined but that "there was no stay of proceedings in the said action"; that "(ever since said assignment to said defendant, Roland J. White, the property therein mentioned has remained and still remains in the possession and under the control of said defendant, Harriette Macnider"; that defendant White is not the owner of said property so assigned to him but that it is the property of said Harriette Macnider.

As conclusions of law it was found that said assignment "is fraudulent and void as against this plaintiff and the said assignment should be set aside" and the property therein mentioned and subsequently distributed in said estate to defendant White "should be held and determined to be, and is the property of the said defendant, Harriette Macnider, so far as the plaintiff herein is concerned"; that defendant White "should account for all the property held by him under the terms of said written assignment, including the sum of $711.28"; that defendants be restrained from selling or in any way interfering with said property, "except as shall be further directed by the court"; that the undivided one-seventh interest in said real property is the property of said Harriette, "so far as this plaintiff is concerned, and should be sold for the purpose of satisfying" said judgment, and said defendant White "should pay over to plaintiff said sum of $711.28, distributed to him as found in the findings of fact, to be applied upon the said judgment in favor of plaintiff."

Judgment was entered accordingly. Substantially all of the findings are challenged for insufficiency of facts.

Whatever interest defendant White acquired by the assignment was merged in the decree of distribution and his title *Page 238 is referable to and he is now holding and is claiming under the decree and not under the assignment. (Toland v. Earl, 129 Cal. 152, [79 Am. St. Rep. 100, 61 P. 914]; Goad v. Montgomery,119 Cal. 552, [63 Am. St. Rep. 145, 51 P. 681].) The assignment was executed September 12, 1909; was duly acknowledged on September 13, 1909, and was duly recorded, in Los Angeles County, on September 30, 1909, where the land is situated and where the Haskell estate was being settled. The decree of distribution was entered June 20, 1910. The complaint was filed October 13, 1910, more than one year after the assignment was recorded and about four months after the entry of the decree of distribution. Plaintiff had constructive notice of the assignment and he also had notice of the proceedings on final account and distribution in the matter of the estate of Haskell, deceased.

Whether plaintiff had any remedy by which to have arrested the proceedings on distribution, so far as they related to defendant White or could, on proper showing, before the decree became final, have had it reopened, need not be now inquired into. It is very certain that the decree is final and conclusive. It is not open to collateral attack and can be set aside by direct attack only upon "some ground of fraud or other matter collateral or extrinsic to the questions examined in the proceeding leading to the decree." (French v. Phelps, No. 988,ante, p. 101, [128 P. 772

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Bluebook (online)
128 P. 780, 20 Cal. App. 234, 1912 Cal. App. LEXIS 109, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hopkins-v-white-calctapp-1912.